Vegetation patterns in the high-altitude Himalaya are influenced by a complex set of biotic and abiotic factors. Anthropogenic disturbances are one of the primary factors influencing the community patterns and diversity, which is largely determined by the level of accessibility in the Himalaya. However, with advancing urbanization and accessibility, limited efforts have been made to quantify the impact of road constructions on alpine flora of Himalaya. To overcome this data gap, this study is aimed to quantify the impact of anthropogenic disturbance on the alpine vegetation community pattern along the altitudinal gradient i.e., 3264- 4340m in Kullu district and 3148- 4634m in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, Northwestern Himalayas. The impact of anthropogenic disturbance was assessed by comparing species diversity and richness between selected disturbed and undisturbed sites. The diversity profiles of disturbed sites (2.45), near to roads and highways (within 25-50m), were indicative of higher level of anthropogenic disturbances than undisturbed sites (2.56), which were located at a farther distance (more than 25- 50m) from roads and highways. Non-metric dimensional scaling of species composition along the altitudinal gradient showed more heterogenous community composition at lower altitudes for both disturbed sites and undisturbed sites. The variation in diversity profiles of disturbed and undisturbed sites was further favored by significantly lower values of soil moisture, potassium, phosphorous, and nitrogen content in disturbed sites. Also, the disturbed sites have lower numbers of threatened and endemic species (12 and 15 respectively) than undisturbed sites (30 and 28 respectively). Canonical correlation analysis indicated that soil moisture and pH were two major controlling factors for community composition for both disturbed and undisturbed sites. The present study indicated a significant impact of anthropogenic disturbances on the alpine floristic diversity and soil properties which needs urgent mitigation actions to conserve the unique and threatened alpine floristic diversity of Himalaya.

A good instance to improve the availability of resources for tree planting is during the establishment of stands, increasing the survival and initial growth of plants. Despite the common use of soil preparation, there are uncertainties about its long-term effects on stand growth and the intensity required. Weeds compete with crop plants for site resources such as light, water, and nutrients, so evaluating the best time to apply this treatment is key. The objective of the study is to quantify the effects and interactions of soil preparation intensity and timing of weed control on long-term growth responses of radiata pine on a metamorphic soil in Chile. The study was established on a split-plot design with cultivation as the main plot treatment (shovel, subsoiling, and disking) and weed control as subplots (none, pre+post and only post planting) to remove all competing vegetation. Subsoiling was performed at 80 cm and disking to 30 cm depth. Trees were planted in 2013 and were measured annually for DBH and total height. Eight years after establishment, soil preparation treatments with weed control applied at pre+post establishment showed the lowest mortality. The best responses in cumulative volume were observed for disking and subsoiling plus weed control at pre-establishment, and the lowest responses were observed at treatments not including weed control. Weed control was the key treatment providing good growth response. Interestingly, the hypothesis that deep soil tillage was required on long dry season sites like these was rejected given that disking to 30 cm provided equal or even larger growth responses.

Dry forests are home to large amounts of biodiversity and are providers of ecosystem services and control the advance of deserts. However, globally these ecosystems are being threatened by various factors such as climate change, deforestation and changes in land use. The objective of the study was to identify the dynamics of changes in forest cover and land use, and the factors associated with the transformations of the dry forest using Google Earth Engine (GEE). The study area comprises the dry forest ecosystem in the department of Tumbes located in northern Peru. The annual collection of Sentinel 2 satellite images from 2017 and 2021 was analyzed. We identified the classes of urban (U), crop (C), bare soil (BS), body of water (BW), open dry forest (ODF) and dense dry forest (DDF). Subsequently, the supervised Random Forest (RF) classification was applied. The results showed that the areas of the ODF and DDF between 2017 and 2021 remained about 83% unchanged. Likewise, a greater surface change is shown in classes U and C of 45 and 23%, respectively. The application of GEE allowed us to evaluate the changes in forest cover and land use in the dry forest and from this, it provided important information for the sustainable management of this ecosystem.

In this study we present the trends in wood basic density response from six different eucalyptus genotypes (Eucalyptus globulus (EG), E. nitens × globulus (ENG), E. nitens (EN), E. camaldulensis × globulus (ECG), E. badjensis (EB) and E. smithii (ES)) growing under contrasting water availability. This study was based on an field experiment that considered two forest sites with contrasting water availability conditions, with water irrigation and water irrigation exclusion, in south-central Chile, in Bio-Bio region. The wood basic density was measured indirectly by a non-destructive technique (drill-resistograph PD-400 IML model) and compared with laboratory methods based on the ratio between the dry weight of wood divided by the green volume of the same wood (SCAN-CM 43-95). The tool assesses the drilling resistance when a needle is driven into a tree at a constant speed. the power consumption of the drilling device is measured electronically and a bark-to-bark amplitude profile at drilling depth is produced, showing the density variation of earlywood and latewood. EUCAHYDRO project, which investigates the sensitivity of different eucalyptus genotypes to environmental stresses, and their productivity responses in different water availability associated to new climate change scenarios, provided the data for this study.

Polygraphus proximus Blandford is a bark beetle that has recently invaded the dark coniferous forests of Southern Siberia. Over the last decade, this four-eyed fir bark beetle destroyed Abies sibirica Ledeb stands on more than 500 thousand hectares. This study considers the initial stages of natural reforestation, which can define the restorative succession scenario for completely dead forest stands after the outbreak fades. Areas disturbed by outbreaks have a strong potential for natural coniferous regeneration when the young generation of Abies sibirica dominates in species composition. As early as 5 years after the outbreak, a successful, sufficient for the future forest formation, young generation density (13,000 trees / ha) is observed. Intensive undergrowth development is noted. The high density of young stands in some areas ensures the canopy closure and forms a shady ground cover vegetation type. At the same time, in some disturbed areas there are threats to undergrowth. In open places with thin undergrowth a considerable amount of forest fuels represented by large wood residues and dead grass accumulates and can cause high-intensity fire emergence and development. Another risk is human activity. In former outbreak foci, where clear-cutting was implemented, healthy trees were cut down and the existing young coniferous generation destroyed. To date, clearings have been overgrown with secondary species (Betula pendula Roth., Populus tremula L.). Ground cover communities have transformed into open-type phytocenosis where cereal grasses prevail. This led to turfing and significant litter and dry grass accumulation. To sum up, in faded Polygraphus Proximus outbreaks areas strong young forest generation ensures reforestation without dominant species change. To reduce risks of species change and conserve valuable Abies sibirica species, it is necessary to strengthen wildfire protection.

The digitalization of public administration and the bureaucratic procedures is a priority objective on the agenda of the National Government. The forestry system could benefit from the introduction and the implementation of the digitalization, both for the purposes of administration, management, monitoring and governance of the national forest heritage. The authors, through regional websites analysis, questionnaires and interviews with personnel of regional forestry offices, defined the degree of digitalization of the forestry sector of Italian regions and they provide to define the various levels of the computerization and digitalization in relation to different factors and fixed points of this digital evolution. While the computerization phase has been completed at the beginning of 2021 in almost the Italian regions and autonomous provinces, The forest digitalization is yet in the early stages of its development and implementation, with the exception of few realities, especially in northern Italy, that represent excellence in this field.

Observation of natural processes and their detailed study can improve forest management and introduce more effective and sustainable measures. Many damages are observed in forest stands because of climate change. As a result, the amount of deadwood in forests increases. The increase may be influenced by, among others, strong winds. Recently, the most significant storm passed through Poland in August 2017, damaging over 100,000 ha of forest. Fungi are estimated to be essential for life conditioning. For a better understanding of decomposition, it is reasonable to research the fungi inhabiting deadwood. The reference area was set aside in the damaged pine stand in Nowaszyce 52°63555N 17°62577E. No forest management or conservation measures are planned in this area. We collected 70 samples from 30 trees by the Pressler drill and ground them in a SPEXTM SamplePrepTM Freezer/MillTM cryogenic mill. Total DNA was isolated from the resulting dust using the A&A Biotechnology Bead-Beat Kit. A PCR reaction was performed based on the ITS1 region. The Illumina system sequenced obtained PCR products. The results demonstrate a high species diversity of the fungal communities colonising deadwood. Species belonging to Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota were identified. Ascomycota constituted the most significant proportion in all studied communities, and among them, the pathogen Lophodermium seditiosum Minter, Staley & Millar was the most numerous. Schizophyllum commune Fr., which can be both a saprotroph and a pathogen, was the most abundant of the Basidiomycota. The least numerous phylum was Mucoromycota, dominated by Umbelopsis isabellina (Oudem.) W. Gams that has attracted much interest among biotechnologists in recent years. This study is a prelude to the long-term observations of fungal community changes during the decomposition processes of deadwood.

Fire is an essential component of many ecosystems and is one of the most recurrent disturbances in the Mediterranean biome. Moreover, the impact of global warming has led to an increase in the intensity of fires in many areas of the world. Here, we assess the trends of different fire regime properties (i.e., number of fires, fire size, and severity) fusing monthly burned areas derived from MODIS (MCD64A1) and Landsat data for mainland Spain from 2001 to 2021. We focused only on summer fires, the most common ones. The methodology consisted of crossing Landsat pixels at 30 m with MODIS pixels at 500 m and by means of a classification process, those pixels that were significantly different between pre- and post-fire dates were identified. Afterward, significant levels of severity based on the Relativized Burnt Ratio (RBR) were identified by a new classification process. Finally, those “true” burned pixels were crossed with vegetation types and ecoregions. Trends in fire regime properties were assessed using the Mann-Kendal test. We found that number of fires has significantly decreased over time. On the contrary, fire size was increasing. The proportion of burned shrublands grew in all ecoregions, but especially in the Mediterranean ones; whereas the proportion of burned forests was decreasing. In addition, the median RBR, as well as their percentiles, augmented, especially in conifers and shrublands burned in Mediterranean ecoregions. Moreover, the percentage of areas burned with high severity was expanding mainly due to the increase in the percentage of shrublands burning more severely. Thus, while fire activity decreased, fire severity increased. This new reality needs to be considered because the efficacy of risk management must not be based only on the number of fires or area burned, but on the damages that are likely to increase due to higher fire severity.

The hazardousness of Mediterranean landscapes has increased since the second half of the 20th century, and fuel loads of highly flammable vegetation types have increased throughout the region. Moreover, under the context of more severe fire weather, large fires of high intensity may cause losses in ecosystem services. According to this, fire prevention tools to monitor when and where a fire will have the most negative effects through increases in fire severity are required. Fuel characterization is key to wildfire prevention as fuel is one of the primary factors affecting wildfire risk and behavior. Here, we characterized the valuable natural vegetation in Cabañeros National Park (Central Spain) (part of the Natura-2000 network), composed of typical Mediterranean ecosystems, by using LiDAR and other auxiliary data. LiDAR data were obtained from the 1^st Spanish National LiDAR flight, carried out over the study area in 2009-2010. LiDAR data was pre-processed and ground returns were classified using the progressive TIN filter algorithm carrying out a sensitivity analysis using different settings. Later, the height of the points above the ground were normalized and the Canopy Height Model (CHM) was calculated. Fuel models were derived using the Prometheus fuel classification framework, and they were determined using several LiDAR height metrics and some compositional metrics (i.e., percentage covered by different height ranges ([<0.6 m, 0.6–1m, 1–2m, 2–4m and ≥4m] at 30 m. All those metrics allowed for estimating fractional canopy cover, fuel height, and vertical continuity. Moreover, tree-tops and crowns were delimited and standard height metrics, as well as vertical profiles, were obtained. All this data, joined with information about the flammability of dominant species and the vulnerability to fire based on functional traits, allowed for the identification of which resource values were most severely exposed to wildfires.

Despite regional warming, fire activity is decreasing in the Mediterranean region, blurring the well-established relationship between climate and wildfires. Here, we analyzed this relationship by focusing on the fire severity component of the fire regime. We determined the temporal trends of several climate, fire activity, and fire severity variables and the relationship of the latter two to the first in West-Central Spain (30 000 km2) for a 33-yr period (1985 to 2017). Annually fire variables at summer season were fires number, burned area, fire size and fire severity (calculated using the relativized burn ratio [RBR] from Landsat satellite images). Fire severity was estimated for the whole area and for each of the main land use/land cover (LULC) types. Finally, the climate variables were maximum temperature, precipitation, and water deficit for all seasons (winter, spring, summer, and fall). Trends in those variables were assessed using the Mann-Kendal test, and the relationship between climate and fire variables was ascertained using autoregressive moving average (ARMAX) models. Main results indicated that number of fires and burned areas decreased, whereas drought conditions increased. Wildfires tended to burn preferentially in treeless areas, with conifer forests burning less frequently, and shrublands burning more so. Median RBR increased, as well as low (P₅) and high (P₉₀) percentiles. The percentage of burned areas at low severity decreased. All LULC types tended to burn at higher fire severities over time. The decreasing fire activity, but with increasing fire severity, coincides with rising maximum temperatures and drought (lower precipitation and higher water deficit). The temporal dynamics of fire activity and severity were well explained and predicted by spring and summer climate variables. Thus, while fire activity decreased, fire severity increased, driven by a more severe climate that was consistent with regional warming.